Surgical instrument.



B. B. PATTERSON.

SURGICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1914.

1,131,41 Patented Mar.9,1915.

Z' wnZZfZm ATTORNEYS EDWARD. BLANCHARD PATTERSON, 0F SANDPOINT, IDAHO.

SURGICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

Application filed May 19, 1914. Serial No. 839,525.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD B. PATTERSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Sandpoint, in the county of Bonner and State of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Surgical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to obstetrics, and the main object thereof is to provide an instrument for the protection of the umbilical cord during child birth, whereby there is no possibility of cutting off the blood supply to the child.

It often happens that a child is born with parts other than the head coming first: when this occurs and the body of the child has been delivered, the umbilical cord passes up from the navel to the placenta, situated within the uterus, and is necessarily caught between the head of the child and the bony pelvis of the mother and, unless delivery can be accomplished very quickly, the child perishes through the cutting off of the blood supply; the same thing occurs when there is a prolapse in the cord in head presentations, in other words, a loop of cord comes down ahead of the presenting head of the child, and my instrument is designed to prevent pressure on the umbilical cord in any contingencv, such as above, or others.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the same reference characters are used to designate the same parts in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is an outer face view of an instrument for the purpose stated, constructed in accordance with my invention: Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view of the side opposite that shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line l4 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings forming a part of this application I have shown a present preferred form of my invention, comprising a hollow, substantially sickle-shaped, casing a provided with a longitudinal slot at for the length thereof on the outer, or convex, Side thereof, said casing, as shown, being open at its outer end, and being provided with a suitable handle a The inner surface of the instrument, as shown at a, is smooth and curved to approximately conform to the shape of a childs head, both longitudinally and transversely, the latter curvature being shown in Fig. 4, and it will be seen that no injury can occur to the childs head, during birth, in the use of my device.

The instrument is formed along the lines, generally, of an ordinary obstetric forcep, and is applied in the same manner as that instrument, my instrument being intended to be passed between the head of the child and the pelvis of the mother, with the umbilical cord within the instrument, wherein it is protected against pressure, and the consequent stoppage of the flow of blood to the child, in the same manner as a water-hose is protected, when laid across a street, by a plank arranged on each, side thereof.

My instrument does not interfere with the usual functions of obstetric forceps, and the operation may proceed in the usual manner, but this instrument does positively prevent the death of the child from the cause stated, and is, therefore, of great value under the conditions mentioned.

My instrument will be made of very light but strong material, metal preferably, and, while I have shown a present preferred form thereof, it will be obvious that changes may suggest themselves thereover in the practical use thereof, under the conditions mentioned, or to meet other conditions, and, with a reservation to myself of all such changes in and modifications of the form shown and described as come within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An obstetric instrument, comprising a slotted casing adapted for insertion into the vagina to inclose the umbilical cord of a child and prevent pressure thereon.

2. An obstetric instrument, comprising a casing having a. longitudinal slot on one side thereof and adapted for insertion into the vagina to inclose the umbilical cord of a child and prevent pressure thereon.

3. An obstetric instrument, comprising a casing having a longitudinal slot on one side thereof and adapted for insertion into the vagina to inclose the umbilical cord of a child and prevent pressure thereon, said instrument being longitudinally curved to conform to theshape of the head of the child.

4. An obstetric instrument, comprising a In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 have signed my name in presence of the subscribing Witnesses.

EDWARD BLANCHARD PATTERSON.

casing having a slot on one side thereof-and adapted for insertion into the vagina to inclose the umbilical cord of a child and prevent pressure thereon, said instrument being transversely concaved on its inner surface Witnesses: and transversely convexed on its outer sur- ROBERT Coons,

L. E. ULRICH.

face, and said slot being in said convex side.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

